


Ad Meliora

by xMidnightSun



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, POV Second Person, Post-Undertale Neutral Route - Neutral Pacifist Ending, Time Shenanigans, Undertale Pacifist Route, somewhat verbal frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-16 19:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16501151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xMidnightSun/pseuds/xMidnightSun
Summary: "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." -Martin Luther King Jr.Frisk made it to the Surface, but they won't rest until their friends—ALL of their friends—can sit together under the same sky. Forsaking their happily(?)-ever-after, they return to the beginning once more to save the Underground... again.But this time is different. This time, unlike thousands of other Frisks in thousands of other times, a strangely benevolent Chara is along for the ride. Have they truly changed their tune, or is it another insidious plot to destroy the world? Only time, and perhaps a great many more resets, will tell.





	1. in fine principium

You stand at the precipice of change, staring out over the cliff’s edge at the world you fought so hard to return to. Gentle wind ruffles your hair, the last of the sun’s rays peeking over the horizon to stain the sky magnificent reds and oranges. This is the future you wanted. This is the future you fought for.

And yet, you cannot find it within yourself to be content.

You continue to stare into the distance as a form slowly fades into view, gazing out alongside you. Their voice is quiet as a whisper, echoing only inside your own head. _“You made it,”_ they state simply, their tone emotionless. _“After all this time, you made it.”_

You don’t acknowledge them, instead turning your head this way and that to feel the way the wind caresses your scalp. It’s been quite a while since you’ve felt such a sensation, after all.

They turn to you, in the corner of your eye, staring at you intently. _“Was it worth it?”_

The wind whistles through the evergreens around you. The sky begins to darken as the sun’s vanishing rays recede beyond the horizon. You don’t answer.

They don’t expect you to. The ghostly form sighs, sitting down and swinging their legs over the cliff’s edge. They twiddle a bit of hair between their fingers. _“It didn’t end the way you wanted it to, did it?”_

You shake your head minutely. They don’t look, but you know they know.

_“We could go back. Do it right.”_

You shake your head, harder.

They sigh, looking back to you again. _“I don’t mean like that, Frisk.”_ You never told them your name, just like they never told you theirs. You just knew it, both of you. Somehow, you feel like you always knew. _“I know I can’t persuade you to do things my way. Just like you can’t convince me it’s not all pointless in the end.”_ Their eyes lock on the city many miles from the mountain’s base, a brief frown crossing their face. After only a moment, they look back. _“I have an idea.”_

You hesitate.

The last time they told you they had an idea, they’d had you nearly kill an innocent monster in the Ruins. They’d told you it would get you out of the underground sooner, make it easier to progress. Maybe so, you had thought, but not like this. Never like this. You’d never wanted to hurt anyone.

But this doesn’t sound like one of those ideas. They’d stopped suggesting those when you refused to hurt Papyrus, the big, lovable oaf.

Slowly, hesitantly, you turn to them, your expression guarded.

Their eyes pierce through you, crimson irises unyielding yet not unsympathetic. An uncharacteristic smile devoid of its usual malice tugs at the corners of their mouth. _“I know how we can break the barrier, once and for all.”_

Memories flash through your mind—the taste of fresh butterscotch pie, the aroma of lovingly overcooked spaghetti, the echoing laughter of a bad pun in an audience. Your hands, hanging limp at your side, clench. You look at the spirit, studying them carefully. Then you give a single determined nod.

Their smile grows. _“One last reset,”_ they say, offering you their hand.

“One,” you say back, taking it firmly. Their skin is cold against yours, greedily drinking the heat from your body. You fight for words, wrangling your thoughts in one last attempt to say your piece before the cycle starts anew. In the end, all you can think of is, “Please.”

Chara smiles—a real smile that reaches their eyes for the first time you’ve ever seen. They return your nod, tightening their hold on your hand. It isn’t so cold anymore. _“One more time.”_

You stand at the precipice of change. As the world goes white around you, you are once again filled with **determination**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "ad meliora" - (Latin) to better things  
> "in fine principium" - (Latin) in the end is the beginning
> 
> i know there's billions of undertale fics out now, esp with delta rune now, but i wanted to try something out for a change. we'll see how it goes and if it works, great, if not, eh i tried. this is just an experimental prologue to see what response is like to what i've got


	2. The Definition of Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chara finds out that timeline shenanigans are not to be talked about to strangers.

You wake up in a patch of flowers.

Pain rushes through you all at once, your body again protesting the stress of the fall the way it did in the true beginning, filling in all the parts of you that had once been healed mere moments ago. You wince, squinting your eyes against the light of the surface, now so very far away. Your head throbs at the mere suggestion that you might need to move.

Something shimmers in the corner of your vision. Chara drifts into view, face screwed up like they, too, feel your pain. Which, they probably do, considering part of the plan was to share your body. You don’t know how far that goes when they’re not at the front, though from the look of it, they definitely feel _something._

 _“Morning, sleepyhead,”_ Chara says once the throbbing in your skull pipes down a bit. _“Welcome back to the world of the eternally suffering.”_

You squint at them.

They roll their eyes, propping their chin up on their hand and lounging in midair. They’re faintly see-through, just enough that you can make out the pattern of the stone wall behind them through their faded sweater. _“You better hurry. Mo- Toriel is going to be here soon.”_

With a nearly-inaudible whimper at the lingering pain, you push yourself to your feet, shaking sticky yellow petals and seeds off as you go. Chara continues to float at your side. They look bored, but you know they’re as excited as you are to put things right. At least, you hope so. Coming back was their idea in the first place.

You would have done it anyway—they _are_ your friends, after all—but it’s nice to not be the leader for once.

Flowey isn’t in his spot when you pass by. It’s not too unusual, not when you know he remembers the resets… at least, most of them. But, you’d thought he would have wanted to rub your failure to save your friends in your face. Apparently not. It makes your encounter with Toriel a bit more exciting for the poor woman when she runs into a random human with absolutely no warning, but she adapts quickly, leading you through the Ruins just as she had the first time. You’re careful to treat her the same way you did before, with the same sense of childish wonder, the same innocence, because you want nothing to endanger your relationship with your surrogate mother.

Somehow, you don’t think much could ruin your relationship anyway, but you’re still careful. When the metaphorical dust settles, you don’t want her to think less of you. You don’t want her to be disappointed.

Every so often, you catch a glimpse of golden petals vanishing beneath the soil just before you look. It’s strange; he never did it before this Reset, but now he seems to be following you room to room, watching you where Toriel can’t see. Chara whispers to you that Flowey must be suspicious. You think he has a good reason to be.

You spend the night with Torie, whispering plans to Chara about what is to come. You don’t understand some of what they say, but you understand most of it, and they promise you won’t have to do any of the hard stuff. They say even they won’t have to, because they have a plan. They always have a plan, you tell them, but that doesn’t mean the plan is any good.

The conversation devolves into petty bickering from there. When you start making puns, Chara declares that it is now officially bedtime and refuses to talk to you anymore. You count it as a win and stick out your tongue at their back. They make a farting noise back at you. The little pranks continue until you finally fall asleep.

When you wake up, you break Toriel’s heart all over again. It hasn’t gotten any easier. By the time you’re done, your cheeks are sticky with tears and your clothes are covered with little burns, but both you and she are alive. You exchange a desperate hug, pressing your face into her robes and wishing you never had to let go. She straightens your clothing and vainly brushes soot from your grubby little face, giving you a tender, teary-eyed smile before she leaves.

Once more, you stand upon the precipice of change, staring at the Ruins door. Chara stands beside you, their eyes set on the seam. Their hand on your shoulder fills you with **determination.**

You open the door.

* * *

 Snowdin’s forests are as cold and snowy as ever, the darkened ceiling twinkling softly with crystalline stars far above. You trudge through, determination warming your Soul and body as you shuffle against the knee-deep carpet of white that blankets the ground. Little white clouds puff out in front of your face with your every breath.

 _“So, after we convince Puns McLaughington,”_ Chara says, _“we need to have him take us to Doc Alphys. There are things in the lab basement we can use to…”_ They fumble with their words for a moment, then make an angry noise and simply say, _“We need them! They should still be there, even if the Doctor isn’t. Once we have those, we can—”_

Right on time, you hear the _snap_ of a tree branch behind you. Chara seems to jump, startled out of their monologue, but you keep walking to the bridge like nothing happened. He would be suspicious otherwise, you tell them, though Chara remains unconvinced.

As you approach the bridge and its adorably ineffectual fence, you begin to hear the telltale scrunching of slippered feet in snow. You stop, waiting patiently.

 _“Okay, you give him the password, then I’ll explain the plan,”_ Chara orders, floating invisibly in front of you. You tell them Sans doesn’t trust that easily, but they wave it off with a _“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,”_ and before you can explain, there comes a voice over your shoulder.

“ h u m a n. d o n ’ t  y o u  k n o w  h o w  t o  g r e e t  a  n e w — ? ”

You turn, before he has a chance to finish, and stick your hand out with a smile.

Sans stares blankly at you, the same old smile still fixed on his face. Still, he takes your hand and the air fills with the gassy whine of a whoopee cushion. You let it go and go and go until the cushion has been silent for a painful amount of time, your face now fixed in a stony stare. He looks uncomfortable.

Then you giggle, because no matter how many times it happens, you don’t think it will ever stop being funny.

His smile, of course, doesn’t change, but you think you see his shoulders relax just a little. “eh… heh. the ol’ whoopee cushion in the hand trick. never fails.” Sans tucks his hands into his hoodie, winking his left eye at you. “you heard it before or something? cuz you, uh, turned around before i said to.”

You tell him you have something to tell him. He gives you a funny look, so you look around pointedly at the bushes around you and tell him it’s private. Humoring you, he leans down a little, cupping a bony hand to his… ear… hole… thing like an old man.

Standing on your tiptoes, you whisper the secret password to him.

He makes an odd face, the edges of his perpetual smile twitching. “legendary fartmaster, huh? that’s, uh, kinda childish.” He scratches the back of his skull. “dunno what you mean though, kiddo. i don’t have a secret codeword. at least, not one like that.”

You give him a dirty look. He just keeps smiling, somehow managing to sweat a little despite lacking all necessary faculties to do so. “anyways, you’re a human, right—?”

“Cut it out, Sans,” says Chara with your mouth, glaring at him with dull crimson eyes and folded arms. You didn’t say they could butt in, but apparently, they decided it was their turn. Now it’s up to you to play damage control from the back of the head. “You told us that password last time.”

“last time, eh?” Sans’s smile is rigid. You’re not overly fond of the look in his eyes, but you don’t say anything to Chara about it. They must have noticed, anyway.

They don’t take the bait. “We need your help,” Chara says instead. “I know how to break the barrier, but we need to get into the lab for—”

“whelp, i know where this is going,” Sans interrupts, “and i don’t need to hear any more.” Instantly you surge forward, grappling with Chara for the controls. “try being less obvious next time.”

His sockets go dark. “y o u  f I l t h y  b r o t h e r  k i l l e r.”

“Wait, no, I…!” You regain control of your body, and your mouth, just in time to watch the world turn white.

* * *

 You wake up in a patch of flowers.

Pain rushes through you all at once, your body not only protesting the stress of the fall the way it did in the true beginning, but also the agonizing burn of having your being disintegrated and reintegrated in an instant just a few seconds ago. The light of the sky many feet above you still manages to sting your burning eyes. Your head throbs at the mere suggestion that you might need to move.

Chara screams. _“Why the fuck did he just_ kill _us!?”_

You start and stop several times, trying to make the words come out. But, as usual, very little makes its way from your brain to your mouth, and instead, you decide to just think loudly at the ghost sharing your Soul. _‘He’s suspicious,’_ you tell Chara, watching them pace back and forth in the air, pulling their hair. _‘He doesn’t trust us until he knows we won’t hurt anyone.’_

_“We had his stupid double password!”_

_‘He didn’t have a reason to give it to us yet.’_

Chara stops pacing suddenly and whirls to glare at you, teeth bared. _“Then what do_ you _suggest we do, o mighty Frisk?”_

You stare blankly at them, making sure they can physically _feel_ how unamused you are with their temper tantrum. It just seems to make them angrier. They got you killed, though, so you think they deserve it a little bit.

Once the burning has subsided somewhat, you and Chara discuss a new plan of action that hopefully doesn’t involve instantly getting incinerated by the pivotal person in your plan the second you reveal what’s going on. Chara is far from happy with the idea of ‘playing along’, but you manage to convince them to give it a chance, reminding them of the lengths you had to go to last run just to convince Undyne not to turn you into a greasy smear on the floor. It helps that you push a few memories of the brutal, desperate deaths by exsanguination and suffocation on your own bodily fluids to the forefront of your mind when they protest.

With the new goal in mind, you continue through the Ruins like normal, this time remembering the patterns of Toriel’s attacks a little better and making sure to buy from the bake sale like you forgot to last time.

You also make sure, this time, to Save before you leave the Ruins, determination pulsing through your veins. Even though you know you’re likely going to be coming back at least a few times before you figure out how to get Sans to trust you, you remain confident, and hopeful.

When you step into the forest this time, you’re in slightly better shape and spirits.

Sans doesn’t seem to remember your last encounter, but by now you know he wouldn’t tell you if he did, anyway. You go through the same song and dance as the first time, stifling giggles behind the conveniently-shaped lamp until Papyrus leaves, his laugh still lingering in the trees around you. You’d almost forgotten how hilarious he could be without even meaning to.

When you come out, Sans fixes you with a lazy one-eyed smile, hands tucked into his pockets. “you oughta get going. he might come back, and if he does, you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.”

You tell him you want to talk to him. In private, you add, giving the bushes a funny look. Sans leans down after a moment’s hesitation, but when you go to whisper the code phrase to him, he flashes you a right-eyed wink and vanishes into thin air.

You hear something whine with power behind you as Sans says, from a distance, “nope. try again never, kiddo.”

Then the world turns white.

* * *

 It happens like that again, Sans giving a funny sort of laugh and saying, “third time’s the charm until it’s not, kid,” before obliterating you with another blast of white. You think you might be making progress, though, since he’s still letting you within a mile of Papyrus.

* * *

 It happens again. This time Sans sounds a little annoyed when he taunts you, saying, “anyone else would get the picture here, so, uh, how about you make like a tree and _leaf?”_

* * *

 This time you step on a whoopie cushion buried in the snow at the bridge. When the blast comes, it’s with a faint, “geeeet dunked on!” echoing through the trees. So much for progress.

* * *

 He doesn’t even bother with the gag this time. He just meets you at the bridge with a funny look on his face and blasts you without a word.

* * *

 “we could do this for the rest of eternity, buddy. so, why not, uh, not?”

You pout at him. He gives a strange little laugh and says, “aw, jeez, make me feel like the bad guy here,” before blowing you to atoms.

* * *

 He meets you at the door this time. “make like an egg and beat it, kiddo.”

* * *

 “you’re seriously making this way harder than it has to be,” he says this time, looking just a bit more annoyed.

* * *

 He starts telling knock-knock jokes after a while. You try telling them back, but he just starts blowing you up when you “answer the door”.

* * *

 You tell him you don’t like how he keeps using the same punchline this time, before he even opens his mouth. He forgets what joke he was going to make and, apparently panicked, just blows you up.

* * *

 Back to the knock-knocks. He at least has the courtesy to tell you the punchline this time.

* * *

 You’re pretty sure he’s running out of material.

* * *

 He finally starts getting frustrated around your seventy-third Reset, meeting you at the Ruins door and just staring blankly at you. You stare back, lip stuck out in a pout.

You stay like that for several minutes, just staring at each other in silence from across the threshold of the door.

“i have no idea who you are,” Sans finally says, “but frankly, you scare me.”

You’re just opening your mouth to respond when he blows you to bits again.

* * *

 Fed up with Sans’s apparent inability to accept that you mean no harm, you decide to spend a few Resets training in the Ruins. Toriel is more than happy to and let you stay with her for a few weeks (over and over again), and you use the time to go over your plan with Chara, working out what to do and when to do it, letting Chara tell you the details they didn’t initially want to because they don’t quite understand all the science of it either.

You even spend a bit of the time learning how to make real spaghetti, which Toriel is overjoyed to teach you. When you say you have a friend who could use some tips, she decides to go all out and shows you the fanciest recipe you’ve ever seen.

 _‘Papyrus is gonna be so psyched,’_ you tell Chara.

 _“You should teach him how to make garlic bread,”_ is all they say in response. _“If he teaches Undyne how to make garlic bread, she’ll definitely promote the big dork.”_ You don’t know about promoting based on food pairings, but you agree anyway.

By the time you reset again, you have a much better idea of what you’re about to do. This time, you’re ready.

Hopefully.

* * *

 The Ruins door slams shut behind you, a short but stiff breeze blowing little particles of ash and soot off of your sweater and out of your hair. Sans stands before you, his trademark grin still firmly in its place even though the rest of him isn’t. You instinctively stiffen at the change, letting concern and a little bit of fear flicker across your face after a moment’s consideration. You want him to know you aren’t here to hurt him even though you know he wouldn’t believe it if you told him.

Thankfully, the little show of emotion seems to help your case, because he sighs and spreads his arms. “not here to hurt ya, kid. not unless you give me a reason.”

Though you relax infinitesimally, your body remains tense, and you nervously fiddle with the stick in your grasp.

Sans seems to take your silence and lack of lunging towards him in a homicidal fashion as a net positive, putting his hands back in his pockets and flashing you a lazy grin. “c’mon up to my station. i think we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short chapter to test my character expertise and try to get used to second person pov. first time writing sans, hopefully i did okay  
> comments are super welcome!


	3. Chaos Theory and You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which history repeats itself, except it doesn't because everything is completely different somehow.

The space you walk into when Sans leads you through one of his shortcuts reminds you of the Reset screen—but instead of two glowing yellow buttons, there’s nothing but a void, pitch black, empty, and unfathomably, invisibly massive. If you squint, you can see flickers of things that haven’t happened yet darting through the darkness, though looking for too long fills your eyes and ears with static that struggles to consume you. You feel weightless but not in a good way, like something has an iron grip on your Soul, holding you out of the grasp of worldly physics. If it weren’t for Sans’s hand around your wrist, you feel like you might drift off into the sea of nothingness around you to be lost forever.

Just when you think you’ll be lost in the void forever, reality pops back in with a sudden burst of cold air on your cheeks, sending chills all up and down your spine. Shortcuts only take a fraction of a second, but even a second in that space stretches on and on—like the void is desperately trying to suck you in, never to return to the world from which you came.

You shiver, though not because of the cold. Suddenly you’re glad Sans is the only one who can walk through spacetime like that.

Sans apparently notices your anxiety, but doesn’t comment on it, just sticks his hands in his pockets and leans against the side of his station like nothing is wrong. “we’ve got some time before paps shows up.” His expression is uncharacteristically serious, though his smile remains pasted on like usual. “look, i don’t actually know who you are, ok? all i know is, seein’ you gives me a real bad feeling, way down to the marrow. thing is,” he says, pulling a small notebook seemingly out of nowhere, “this says nothin’ about you bein’ dangerous, ‘sides that you are.”

_“Has he always had that?”_ Chara wonders aloud in your mind. _“That must be how he remembered things last run. Clever bastard was taking notes the whole time…”_

_‘Then why doesn’t he remember us?’_ You fight a frown, keeping your face carefully neutral. The last thing you need is Sans becoming aware of your internal dialogue, especially if… _‘I wonder if the Reset wiped their memories…’_

Chara _hrm_ s. _“I guess we’ll find out.”_

“from the look on your face, i’m guessing you know where i’m going with this,” Sans says, tapping the notebook against his thigh. “you don’t actually _seem_ dangerous to me. i mean, i know i wouldn’t intentionally lead me wrong, but _tibia_ honest, lookin’ at you is like lookin’ at paps’s baby pictures. all bone and no bite.”

You wonder where he’s going with this. Chara grumbles behind you about how they’re definitely scary and absolutely nothing like a baby skeleton, telling Sans where he can shove his teasing in graphic detail you wish you could turn your mental ears off for.

“so,” Sans continues, oblivious to Chara’s pouting, “maybe past me didn’t have all the info, if you know what i mean.” He slips the book back into his pocket and tries to smile casually, but it just looks pained. “i like to think i’m a nice guy, so i wanna hear your side. judge for myself.”

“I guess it’s better _tibia_ safe than sorry,” you say with a completely straight face.

Sans stares at you. For a moment, you don’t think your voice was loud enough to hear, but then you hear Chara cackle madly in the back of your head. “wow.” His smile gets a little bigger. You knew he couldn’t resist. “ok, that was pretty _humerus_. hope that’s not the _bonely_ joke you got.”

“Nope.” You can’t help grinning now. “I’ve got a _skele-ton_ of ‘em.”

That does it. The tension finally breaks and Sans cracks up, looking much more relaxed after your short punning escapade even though you admittedly stole half the material from the him of the previous Reset. You spend a few minutes more trading equally-terrible jokes, and you actually manage to get lost enough in it that Sans almost forgets what’s coming.

You barely hear the crunching of Papyrus’s boots on the snow down the trail and Sans’s head pops up, his smile briefly twisting into something half-panicked, half-amused. “oh shit,” he says, grabbing you and shoving you down behind his station’s counter. “stay down there a sec, it’s my—”

“SANS!”

Right on cue, Papyrus comes striding up, not even glancing down into the booth. He’s far too busy staring in utter shock at Sans, who has pasted another cheesy grin onto his face as he leans on the windowsill, drumming his fingers on the cardboard. “sup, pap?”

“I can’t believe you’re not sleeping on the job for once! You’re actually doing your job, Sans! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!”

“it’s not what it looks like, pap.”

“You’re awake and at your station! What else could it be!?”

Sans flashes his brother a wink. “i’m actually multitasking.”

Papyrus looks like he’s about to cry. “OH MY GOD!! You’re working!?”

“yep.” Sans’s smile twists a little. “i’m slacking off, procrastinating, and being useless, all at once.”

The change is instantaneous. Papyrus’s smile vanishes, replaced with a comical scowl. “ARE YOU SERIOUSLY ONLY AWAKE TO MAKE JOKES AT ME???” He throws up his hands. “Oh my God!! I was so proud!! And then!! AND THEN!!”

You can’t help it. You giggle through the hands you’ve clamped over your mouth and watch Sans give a full-body flinch. Luckily, though, Papyrus either doesn’t hear you or assumes you’re actually Sans giggling even though you don’t think you’ve ever heard him even laugh properly, let alone giggle.

“I bet you haven’t even recalibrated! Your! Puzzles!” He punctuates each word with a stamp of his foot, both sounding incensed and not. You assume this is routine for him these days. “How are we supposed to catch ANY human if all you do is sit!! And!! Boondoggle!!” He pauses. “And sleep!! HOW DO YOU EVEN SLEEP THAT MUCH???”

“very carefully,” is Sans’s casual response.

“CLEARLY!!” Papyrus huffs loudly and noisily crosses his arms. “We need to be ready, Sans! For the human!”

“what human?”

“THE human, Sans! The human that will give me all the things I utterly deserve!” He launches into his usual spiel and Sans steals a glimpse down at you, obviously uncomfortable with having to keep his eyes off you for so long. Some part of him obviously still doesn’t trust you.

You have nothing to hide, though. From your position scrunched in under the lip of the windowsill, you give a cheerful wave and a bright smile. Something in your expression seems to strike a chord in Sans and he visibly relaxes, returning your smile with a lazy one of his own. Then he snaps his gaze back up to Papyrus as his rant concludes. “sounds like you’re really working yourself to the _bone_ , paps.” He ignores Papyrus’s scream of frustration, grin growing ever wider. “i’m _pa-tellaing_ you, you can’t let all that stress _rattle_ you.”

Papyrus screams again to cover the snicker that slipped out. “SANS!! YOU ARE GROUNDED!!”

“aw, c’mon, pap,” Sans says with a devious grin. “i’m just _ribbing_ you.”

“OH MY GOD!!!”

“you’re smiling, pap.”

“I KNOW AND I HATE IT!!!” Papyrus threw his hands up in the air. “I’m going to tend to my puzzles! As for you…!” He grins back, trying to look devious but just managing to look delighted in his own wit. “You should put a bit more _backbone_ into your work! NYEHEHE!!”

Sans watches him run off with a fond smile before beckoning to you. “a’right, you can get up now. thanks,” he says as you stand, stiff from the cold, and slips his hands back into his pockets. “for, uh, playin’ along there. paps has never met a human before and, uh, i’d rather be sure he’s gonna be safe than sorry.”

You nod in understanding. Sans exhales, suddenly looking so much older than before. “ok, i dunno what you did to make past me freak out, but you’re not doin’ it now, so…”

He leans back on the hut’s wall, watching you. “so…” There’s a long pause that none of you, not even Chara, know how to fill. You shuffle uncomfortably from foot to foot. “uh… how’s…?” He nods awkwardly in the direction of the Ruins. You give him a bright smile and a thumbs-up. “she’s good, huh?” He exhales again, dragging a hand down his face. “she… didn’t remember, did she?”

Aww. He feels guilty for sending you back so many times because it might have made Toriel worry. Your smile softens and you shake your head, motioning like you’re wiping sweat off your forehead. She never remembered, per se, but she did worry about you, for reasons she could never quite grasp. But she didn’t know, and that’s what mattered.

Sans visibly relaxes again. “that’s a relief. i’d say i’m sorry ‘bout all that, but…” Now he shuffles awkwardly, his smile collapsing a bit on one side. “… y’know.”

“Better safe than sorry,” you quietly echo. He nods. “It’s okay.”

“to uh, satisfy my curiosity…” Now he _really_ looks uncomfortable, his face twitching like it wants to pull itself off his head and just walk away from the whole situation. “… how many times did i..?”

You think. Then you hold up a few fingers.

“seven?” He flinches when you shake your head and hold up another set of fingers. “… oh. seventy… seventy-four times.” You don’t expect the way his shoulders hunch and his head goes down, eyelights flickering out and smile creasing into something horribly pained and broken. “i killed a kid seventy-four times,” he whispers, you think to himself.

Suddenly, you feel terrible, because even though you don’t understand why he was so scared of you or why he called you a brother-killer, you know he was just trying to keep everyone safe. Even though it was scary and indescribably painful, you still can’t find it in yourself to be mad at him about it. You just can’t.

_“And that’s why everyone takes advantage of you,”_ Chara grumbles distantly. _“You’re too nice for your own good, Frisk.”_

You know that. But you also know that you don’t want to be anything else.

Ignoring Chara’s continued complaints about your kind-heartedness, you carefully scoot closer to Sans—not that he even seems to notice your approach, too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention to the world around you. Chara bitterly notes that if you had a decent weapon, you could kill him right here, right now, and he would never have a chance to dodge.

You shut that thought down immediately, though, with a glare in their direction. Then, somewhat against your better judgement, you lean against Sans in a sad approximation of a hug.

He jumps out of his metaphorical skin, eyelights suddenly bursting back to life and darting around in a panic before they land on you, your face screwed up in determination as you give him the most respectful half-hug you can without violating his boundaries. Sans is silent for a few minutes and you shuffle awkwardly against him, half tempted to let go and half determined to make him feel better if it kills you.

Again.

Sans doesn’t seem to know what to do about you clinging to him the way you are, his mouth opening and closing over and over like he’s trying to figure out what to say to you. Then he apparently gives up on words and pats your back with one hand, smiling bitterly. “thanks, kid. that- that means a lot.”

You hang on for a few minutes, marvelling over how despite being nothing but bone and magic, he still manages to radiate warmth beneath the worn old jacket he wears, over how fragile he feels beneath all that bulky clothing. He feels so small and frail, and he’s not much to look at, but he still manages to be one of the strongest monsters in the underground when he just sets his mind to it.

Like you. A small, thin-skinned meatbag filled with blood and determination and not much else, yet somehow, you managed not only to make it to the end of the underground and beyond, but to bend time and space to your will so you could go back and try again.

The knowledge that you and Sans have more in common than either of you knew fills you with **determination.**

Sans clears his throat (somehow), jolting you from your reverie. He looks a bit awkward, idly scratching at faintly blue-tinged cheekbones. “this is nice and all, but, uh, pretty sure we have business to get to.”

_“Yeah, we kind of have an agenda to keep,”_ Chara adds, floating upside-down over your head with a scowl.

You obligingly let go, wrapping your arms around yourself instead as the winter chill bites through your sweater. You don’t mind the cold, though. Not when you managed to make one of the saddest monsters in the underground happy, even if just for a little bit.

“alright then,” Sans says, that casual grin of his slipping back onto his face. He looks much more at ease with you now—apparently hugs really _can_ fix anything if you just believe in them enough. “pap would love to meet a real, actual human, so, feel like playin’ along some more?” He winks. “you’ll probably make his whole week.”

Spending more time with Papyrus? Chara groans, but you nod, your whole face lighting up at the idea.

Sans gives a short laugh. “i take it you’ve met before?”

You hesitate.

Chara hovers behind Sans, drawing a hand across their throat over and over. _“He really doesn’t need to know, Frisk.”_

_‘But he kind of does,’_ you think back, brow furrowing.

_“Do you remember what happened last time? And the time before that? And the time before THAT?”_

You glare at Chara. “I…” Hmm. How to put this into words that didn’t sound creepy and also like you actually _had_ killed anyone in the last run, even though you hadn’t… “I, um…” You make a writing motion with your hands, deciding it would be much easier to write than to strain your voice trying to say it all in one go. “After?”

He gives you a strange look, but apparently you’ve gained enough of his trust that he doesn’t prod further, just gives a little shrug and a nod.

Taking that as permission to go, you hurry out of the little hut, waving goodbye to Sans before skipping down the forest path, trying to stay in Papyrus’s wide-set footprints. It’s harder than it looks; Papyrus has a very long stride and you have very short legs, so your hops bury you in knee-deep snowdrifts more often than not. Still you power on, a cheerful smile plastered on your face as you think of what is to come.

You round a corner, making a short stop at the little glimmering SAVE point at the fork in the woods to reflect on your experiences, filling yourself with **determination** as you recall the trust Sans has put into you on your word alone. When you look up, Chara is hovering again before you, looking rather disgruntled.

_“Are you sure you wanna tell them?”_ Chara asks, for the first time sounding unsure of themselves. _“What if Sans just kills you and we go through that whole loop all over again?”_

_‘I trust him.’_ You smile warmly at them, ignoring their glower at your innocent optimism.

They huff, crossing their arms. _“I just hope you’re right.”_ You catch a castaway thought of the feelings roiling around inside them and reach out a hand, but they flinch away. _“Stop it. I don’t want your comfort, I just want this to work.”_

_‘It will. Promise.’_

They don’t look convinced. Unfortunately, that will have to do for now. You can’t stay in the cold; you’ve got to find Papyrus, play his puzzles, and get him and Sans to let you into Snowdin, or you’ll be repeating everything again anyway. So, with a last concerned glance towards Chara, you continue down the path.

The next stretch of forests finds you nearly running headlong into Papyrus, who is in the midst of arguing with Sans when you arrive.

“I meant what I said about you being grounded!” Papyrus is scolding, his foot practically tapping a hole through the ground beneath it. “I still can’t believe it! You stay awake at your station not to do work, but to TELL!! ME!! JOKES!!! And not even good ones!!”

“i thought they were pretty _rib-tickling_.”

“AUGH! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!” Papyrus throws his hands up, Sans just barely ducking out of the way of flying phalanges in time. “You could be a great sentry like me, you know! But instead! INSTEAD!! You just SIT!! AND!! PUN!!!”

“hey, i think i’m pretty _punny._ ”

“You know what’s _punny,_ brother!?” Sans pulls his hood up over his non-existent ears, trying and failing to stifle a laugh. It comes out as a snort that sounds like a wounded whoopee cushion. “DOING!! YOUR!! JOB!!! SANS!!!”

“alright, alright,” Sans laughs, holding his hands up. “no need to get so _sternum_ with me.”

Papyrus’s nonexistent eyes bug out of his head. You assume it’s magic.

Right before he unleashes the hellish scream you know is building up in his ribcage, Sans gestures in your direction, still fighting his own laughter in vain. “hey paps, what’s that?”

“DON’T TRY TO DISTRA—” Papyrus turns and stares at you. You can practically see the question mark appearing over his head. Then he looks at Sans. Then he looks back at you. Then at Sans. Then at you.

Then his hands fly to his skull and he screeches, **_“OH MY GOD, SANS!!!!”_** so loud you can hear the rest of Dog Squad start howling in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yet again i hope i'm writing sans and papyrus right, cuz this is my first attempt at it and all i've got for feedback is my partner who is contractually obliged to tell me it sounds good ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	4. Second Verse Same as the First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Frisk learns that trust is a two-way street filled with potholes and the occasional impassable barrier... or something like that.

Papyrus’s head is swivelling between you and Sans, back and forth and back again, so quickly you’re surprised his head hasn’t decided to just pop off yet. His jaw is slack, both hands still plastered to the sides of his head in abject bewilderment. You can’t hear if he’s stopped screaming or not yet; your ears are still ringing from his earlier screech, and you wonder if, from his position right next to the epicenter, Sans can even hear at all.

He sure doesn’t look like he can. He’s still standing with his shoulders hunched up around his cheekbones, eyesockets wide as plates with tiny dot eyelights and a grin so wide it looks painful—an expression that, according to Chara, practically screams, “Please kill me.”

_“I bet,”_ says Chara, _“if he could hear himself talk right now, he’d totally be screaming.”_ You giggle uncontrollably at the thought—Papyrus, shrieking to the entire underground in excitement, and Sans right beside him, screaming in contrition—and, since you share a Soul and a mind, Chara starts giggling too. It isn’t long before you’re both sitting in the snow, laughing harder than you’ve ever laughed before at the image, and at Papyrus’s bewildered stare as you sit there and seemingly have a breakdown for no reason at all.

Papyrus grabs Sans’s arm and shakes him, which only makes you laugh more because Sans remains stiff as a board and just kind of wobbles like a really light statue in his brother’s grasp. “SANS!! SANS!?! IS THAT!?!? A _HUMAN!!?!??!”_

“uh,” Sans finally manages to croak out, his ever-present grin finally transforming into a weird baffled, sort of lost smile that sits a little sideways on his face, “w-would you believe me if i said it was a rock?”

“SANS!!” He flinches, hands flying back up to cover what must be his ears. “SANS IT’S A HUMAN OH MY GOD!!!” Papyrus is vibrating like a Temmie, his face morphing into the purest expression of delight you’ve ever seen on a living creature. He is literally bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Sans!! A human!! Is here!! TODAY!!” He pauses, his face screwing up strangely. Your breath hitches in your chest. “And it looks so _familiar!_ ”

You see Sans freeze. His eyelights flick to you and his smile grows strained. You make a desperate sort of face back and mime writing again, hoping his curiosity will outweigh his innate drive to keep his brother safe at all costs.

Apparently it does, because he seems to shrug it off, the tension melting back out of his stance and his smile. “so, pap,” he says, elbowing Papyrus gently in the ribs, “whatcha gonna do now that you caught a human?”

“CAUGHT?? I haven’t _caught_ the human, brother!” Papyrus straightens up, planting his hands on his hips like some knockoff superhero figurine. He’s wearing a cheesy grin too, one that seems a little too big for his face. “But I WILL catch them! And then I’ll be! So! Popular!!”

He points a dramatic finger at you, cackling wildly. “Human! You shall not pass this area!” he barks, too excited to sound anything even close to mean about it. “I, the Great Papyrus, will stop you! And I will catch you! With great puzzles and japes suitable only for the BEST of the Royal Guard, which I will soon belong to! You will be delivered to the capital! And then! And THEN!!”

He hesitates. Sans chuckles and elbows him again to rev the skeletengine back up.

“I don’t know what happens after that, but ANYWAYS!!” With another thrilled cackle, he poses dramatically, his cape flapping majestically in the light wind. “Prepare yourself!! For hijinks! Lowjinks! Dangers! Puzzles! Capers! Japers! Nyehehaheh!! Continue… if you DARE!!” And with that, he rockets down the forest path at top Papyrus speed, cackling manically. You can hear it continue to echo even after he vanishes out of sight. He sounds absolutely delighted.

“whelp,” says Sans, glancing back to you with a wink. “that went better than expected. you probably know, but… paps couldn’t hurt a fly, even if he wanted to.” His smile turns strained for a moment. “even if the fly was comin’ at him with the intent to kill.” Back to normal lazy, smiley Sans. “he won’t hurt’cha. but i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya anyway.”

You give him another bright smile, Papyrus’s elated laughter echoing through your mind. “I know.” Sans looks confused for just a moment before you add, “I like him.”

The little skeleton stares at you for a minute, seemingly caught off-guard. Then he smiles again, a soft, gentle smile. “heh. yeah. isn’t he the coolest?”

In the blink of an eye, he vanishes into thin air.

You grin at where Sans used to be, giggling a little at the memory of Papyrus taking off like a tiny skeletal hurricane and at Sans’s little doe-eyed grin whenever he talks about his brother, before turning to happily skip down the trail, making a game of it to stay in Papyrus’s footprints wherever you can. It’s even harder than before; if he has long strides when he’s walking, then he’s got absolutely monstrous (ehe) ones when he’s sprinting. You’re pretty sure he didn’t even touch the ground, and that the prints he left behind are just sonic impressions left behind by him breaking several kinds of universal laws at once in his excitement.

Skipping along like you are, you only make it to Papyrus’s forest station before you’re too tired to keep hopping along, so you pause at the station for a breather, ducking inside where the wind can’t reach you. To your surprise, there’s a small, rumpled package on the floor inside. When you pick it up, you realize that it’s a Nice Cream.

It only takes a second to connect the dots before your mouth curves into a fond smile.

Aww. He really _does_ like you.

You’re still happily gnawing away on the treat’s stick when you blunder right into Doggo’s cone of vision, and with an alarmed bark, he jumps (or, really, kinda trips over the snow he can’t see) into the fray.

He’s not so hard to beat the second time around, now that you’ve been beaten up and down the walls with blue attacks by everyone from Papyrus to Asgore. The second he turns his back to you, you’re jumping up to pet him, sending him into another panicked frenzy when he spins around and can’t see you grinning at him. You do this several times, delighting in the look on his face every time you get a pet in without him seeing. By the time you’re done, he’s just swinging his knives around randomly, howling about the malicious stationary serial petter plaguing his station and desperately trying to pretend his tail isn’t wagging like Lesser Dog’s at the mention of affection.

You finally stop then, panting and grinning unabashedly as he hurries back to his station and hunches below the counter with a dog treat in his paw. Chara rolls their eyes, but you can feel their amusement just as well as their exasperation and stick your tongue out at them with a smile. To your delight, they stick their tongue out back.

The next leg of forest finds you running right back into Sans, who has his back turned to you when you arrive even though you know he’s aware of your presence. It gives you a perfect chance, however, to get a running start.

“hey, here’s something imp— _whoa!”_ He narrowly avoids your tackle, giving a funny little laugh when you miss him and dive headfirst into a snow poff. “ _ice_ to see you too, bud, but that’s _snow_ reason to tackle me.”

He clearly isn’t expecting you to be grinning when you pop back up, laughing again in a much more genuine fashion. A warm feeling fills your chest at the light, easy smile on his face. “i take it you’re having a good time.”

You nod enthusiastically, hopping up and running back over to hug him. He lets you this time, patting your back with another little laugh. You bury your face in his jacket, which smells like old ketchup and gym socks but feels better than the biting cold, and mumble a thanks for the Nice Cream.

Sans gives a chuckle that you feel more than hear. “told you i’d look out for ya.” You look up with another bright grin, then obligingly let go of him when he moves his hand off of your back. “i guess you don’t need a refresher on blue attacks?” You shake your head. He nods and sticks his hands back in his pockets after tousling your hair in a very older-brotherly fashion. “fair enough. just make sure you don’t forget, ok? pap would never forgive himself if he hurt you too bad.”

“I won’t,” you promise, and then you giggle because Sans still doesn’t look like he’s used to you talking. You don’t know why he’d be surprised unless he remembered your last run, where you were normally too scared to talk to anyone, but it’s still funny. “Blue stop signs.”

“heh, yeah.” His smile goes a little sideways. “blue stop signs.”

Now seems as good a time as any. “I got a secret.” You lean up on your tiptoes, tugging on the front of his jacket until he’s properly at your level, and whisper, “I’m the legendary fartmaster,” into his ear.

Sans blinks a few times, his smile creasing into something you can’t decipher. You take a weary step back just in case. “… huh. that explains a lot,” he mumbles, looking pensive. Then he makes eye contact with you. “i’m definitely holding you to that explanation, kid.”

Relief floods your veins at his mild—but definitely less violent—response and you can’t help but smile again. “Frisk,” you say, pointing at yourself. If you’re gonna be allies, he has to know your name. Your _real_ name. “I’m Frisk.”

“frisk, huh?” He tests the name a few times, rolling it around in his mouth with an odd look on his face, then nods and gives you an easy smile. “nice to meet’cha, frisk.”

And just like before, you blink and he’s gone.

_“I really hope you’re right,”_ grumbles Chara from the back of your mind. Your mental vision of them is chewing nervously on their thumbnail, looking perturbed. _“I don’t wanna go back again.”_

You just smile and continue on your way, filled with **determination.**

* * *

 

“Really though!” echoes Papyrus as you follow the path out, “Do I know that human? They look so familiar!”

Sans is standing beside him, grinning fondly up at Papyrus, who is staring out over the cliff with a thoughtful frown. “do you not know who you know, bro?”

Papyrus makes a weird sound that he shouldn’t be able to without lips and flaps a hand. “Of course I know who I know! I just want to know if you know I know who I know as much as I know I know who I know! You know?”

“’course, pap, totally transparent.”

“Good! Because I—WAIT!!” Papyrus spins on his heel and glares at Sans. “Did you just make a pun!? About my invisible maze puzzle?!? Because I will not have you disrespect!! The sanctity!! Of PUZZLES, Sans!!” Then he catches a glimpse of you, again stifling a giggle, out of the corner of his eye. “Ah-HA! Speak of the devil!”

Sans gives you a little wave, still stifling his snicker at Papyrus’s violent reaction to his punning. You grin and wave back, giggling unabashedly.

Papyrus, as usual, ignores your shenanigans. “Human!! In order to stop you, my brother and I have crafted some puzzles! I think you will find this one…” He grins like an absolute goofball. “… quite _shocking!_ Ehehe! For you see, this is the invisible electricity maze!!” Papyrus throws his hands skyward like a mad scientist awaiting the ominous lightning bolt and spooky music that accompanies all of his evil plans. All you hear, however, is the distant barking of a dog. After a long, awkward pause, you start to clap.

“THANK YOU!!” The lanky skeleton sweeps into a bow like the awkward silence never happened, a big, cheesy grin pasted back on his face. Beside him, Sans flashes you a thumbs-up. “Now then! When you touch the walls of this maze, this orb that I am holding-” he brandishes a small, smooth teal orb, “-will administer a mighty ZAP! Sound like fun?” You nod enthusiastically. His smile flickers a bit. “Because, the amount of fun you will probably have will actually be rather small, I think. Oh well!”

You giggle a little at his hesitation. Chara rolls their eyes. _“All this and he still can’t bear to hurt anyone.”_

_‘It’s sweet.’_

_“It’s pathetic.”_ A disdainful snort, followed by a murmured, _“He’s lucky I didn’t—”_

Chara clams up suddenly, retreating to the back of your mind. You tilt your head quizzically, but they’ve completely closed their mind off from yours, preventing you from reading their emotions like you usually do when they get upset. Even a mental prod doesn’t get you an answer. You hate it when they do this. Don’t they understand you want to help them, too?

Sighing, you shake off your worry and give Papyrus a determined nod, holding your hands out for the orb. Funny as it was the first time, something about watching Papyrus get shocked this time around gives you the chills.

Naturally, it takes a few minutes for him to connect the dots. Sans helps by elbowing him and saying, “paps, i think the human’s gotta hold the orb.”

“Oh! Okay!” Papyrus cheerily traverses his maze, oblivious to the enormous footprints he leaves behind, and plops the orb in your hands. “Try it now!”

You stifle a smile, giving Sans a “what can you do” kind of shrug, then follow Papyrus’s footprints to the end of the maze.

He gives a dramatic gasp. “Wowie! You slippery little snail!! You solved it so easily! … _too_ easily!” You can’t help another giggle at his scandalized tone, and from the looks of it, neither can Sans. “But don’t get too comfortable, human!! This next puzzle will NOT be easy, for it is designed by my brother, Sans!” He twirls like a ballerina to gesture to Sans. Oh, God, you don’t know how much longer you can hold it in. “You will surely be confounded, human!! I know I am!!”

As he takes off into the snow with another delighted _“Nyeheheheheheh!”_ , Sans turns to give you a lopsided grin through his chuckling. “what a dork. i love him so much.”

You love him too. You giggle and nod in agreement, making a heart with your hands.

Sans tilts his head again, gazing into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face. At least, you think he looks thoughtful, but with that ever-present grin, it’s a little hard to tell. You figure that must be why he’s always smiling, so people can’t tell what he’s thinking or how he feels. It’s hard to be mad at him for it when you and Chara do the same thing. You just wonder if what he’s thinking about is as bad as the things you think about.

“you know that outfit of his?” he finally says after a long pause. He seems to be deliberately avoiding eye contact. “we made that a couple’a weeks ago for a costume party. he fell in love. hasn’t taken it off since.” His smile turns wistful—or pained. “he calls it his ‘battle body’. says with it, nothin’ will ever hurt him, an’ he won’t hurt anyone either. all he wants is to make friends.

“’course, you already know that, don’t you?”

Something in his tone sends a chill racing down your spine.

The two of you stand in silence, you shifting uncomfortably in the gentle snowfall and Sans staring off into space like it might tell him the secrets of the universe. Then he turns to you.

His sockets are pitch black.

“you’re playin’ pretty well, kid. really makin’ me believe you’ve turned a new leaf. but lemme give you some advice: if you ever hurt my brother…” He sounds completely different now. His voice is a biting sword dancing at your throat, daring you to make a move. “… i’ll make sure you **never** come back.”

Your vision goes dark for just a split second. When it returns, Sans is gone, leaving behind only a faint smell of old ketchup in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still doin my best :,] hope it's reasonably ok
> 
> there's a lot goin on in this timeline that lil frisky doesnt know about. it'll all be explained in due time.


End file.
